


Now I Know Jealousy

by yoursistheonlyocean



Category: Arctic Monkeys, Last Shadow Puppets, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alex Is Jealous, Larry are married, Milex are boyfriends, Multi, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:27:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26343352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoursistheonlyocean/pseuds/yoursistheonlyocean
Summary: “Maybe you should stop worrying about us revealing your big secret and start worrying about the good-looking guy having a heart-to-heart with Miles.” Matt now looked at Alex again, raising an eyebrow and beckoning Alex to look back at Miles’ table.As if that wasn’t fucked up enough as it was, he was now not only away from his Miles but also some bloke was over there chatting him up? His blood boiled inside his veins, and the rumbling in his stomach wasn’t from hunger.At GQ Awards 2022*, Alex finds hard not be his possessive self when Styles is talking to his Miles. Unbeknown to Alex, both Harry and Miles had their hearts already too occupied to make the conversation anything more than friendly.* There's no social distance and life is good again.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Miles Kane/Alex Turner
Kudos: 53





	Now I Know Jealousy

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short story I had to put out of my head.

If Alex was honest, he didn’t fancy this kind of event. If they hadn’t been nominated he’d be nowhere but home watching crap telly while cuddled up to Miles. Weather Miles would be up for that was a mystery, because contrary to how he felt right now, the room was lively with chattering and laughter, and the guests looked delighted to be here - Miles included. 

Alex “understood” it was the perfect opportunity to dress up in impressive attires, bought from designers with promises of exclusivity, and sip drinks while gossiping about the other fellow celebrities. But his scoff was loud and loaded with contempt, enough to prove otherwise. 

He just couldn’t understand the hype. To him the room was stuffy and noisy, and full of futile people. On top of that, they were made to wear a jacket for the event, preferably accompanied by a tie, as the invitation had suggested: ‘Formal’. Alex had forgone the tie. For starters, in all his stubbornness he hated being told what to do. Second, he didn’t want to slowly simmer in that room, like a monkey in a cauldron, with a piece of fabric cutting out the circulation on his neck.

Alex had been to GQ Awards many times, therefore he knew the drill. He knew it would be hot, and full of pretentious people and tiny pretentious food, and loads of non-pretentious booze - thank God for the latter.

He unbuttoned one more button of his shirt, the last one he could undo before going from provocative to inappropriate, and let his eyes flit to the only thing he found interesting there: his Miles, who was across the room. 

Miles sat too far from him this time, to Alex’s utter dismay. In previous years they had even shared a table, which had been more pertinent and practical. It’d been up to the party organisers at GQ to choose where everyone would sit, even though by now Alex would expect people to know that he and Miles were joined at the hip, and should always be placed together or near each other, no matter what! 

He felt nothing but indignation by how inconsiderate the party planners had been this time, and with the feeling came out another scoff. 

His whole band had got here way too early and had been bantering and drinking what he thought could only be ridiculously expensive champagne - again, about that he wasn’t complaining. The ladies at their table sat opposite to the men and had their own party going on - an idea from their manager to make Alex look, by all means, less like a lonely bastard. Alas, everyone had a plus one but him.

But he wasn’t lonely! No, no, no! This time he was far from lonely, since he’d got Miles. However, Miles was on the freaking other side of the room and didn’t look half as bothered as Alex did. He was naturally making conversation with everyone at his table, women and men who, luckily so, seemed to be paired together, making a poor choice of target for Alex’s jealousy. He shrugged at the thought and kept his eyes there, at his man.

“Seriously Alex, why haven’t ya just called GQ beforehand and asked them to place Miles at our table? That would’ve saved ya some heartache.” Matt took his glass to his own lips, drinking extortionate champagne as if it was water. Then he made a point of turning his head to the other side to not look at Alex, perhaps embarrassed about his gawking habits when Miles was concerned. 

Alex let out a shaken breath and looked at Matt side-eyed to not miss the view of Miles. “Sure, I should’ve just called them and let them wonder about what kind of relationship Miles and I have. Brilliant idea!” Alex sneered, making a mind-blowing gesture to Matt, who had missed it while keeping his eyes the other way. Alex’s eyes dropped to the full-of-condensation cup in his hands and he fidgeted with it.

“He is your boyfriend!” Jamie pitched in, thunderously, as if stating the obvious wasn’t direct enough. As if that knowledge was public.

“The fuck Jamie, keep your voice down. That’s how rumours fucking start!” Alex took a swig of his champagne, drowning the longing for Miles that was growing more unbearable by the second. 

Miles would make everything better had him being placed at their table. He wouldn’t be teasing Alex. Not in the same way, and definitely not in a disparaging way.

Nick, who was quietly observing up to that point, yelped with laughter. “Mate, I’m sure that’s not how rumours start. I mean, it’s started long ago as soon as you two started looking at each other as if you were about to snog. All lovey-dovey. It’s glaringly obvious.” Nick tried to drink his champagne but was incapable of doing so without spiting half of it out.

Alex had got enemies for bandmates, and he didn’t fail to notice that Nick was the worst of them. With that angelic face and kind blue eyes, he’d managed to fool Alex in the beginning. But in reality he’d turned to be the one who was always laughing, and couldn’t keep his face straight in face of Alex’s interactions with Miles. Not for the life of him. Alex had seen the videos.

“Shhhhhh!!!!” Alex attempted shushing everyone. His hands off the glass and resting on top of the table to not show how shaky he’d got.

“Maybe you should stop worrying about us revealing your big secret and start worrying about the good-looking guy having a heart-to-heart with Miles.” Matt now looked at Alex again, raising an eyebrow and beckoning Alex to look back at Miles’ table. 

As if that wasn’t fucked up enough as it was, he was now not only away from his Miles but also some bloke was over there chatting him up? His blood boiled inside his veins, and the rumbling in his stomach wasn’t from hunger.

Alex’s eyes darted to Miles’ table in a split second. Miles was there, in his impeccable black suit - with a tie - still sat on his chair, but with his entire body turned to the side, willingly. He talked to someone from the table in the back of his own, both located close to the stage. He could see a pinkish suit, and brown curly hair, but there was a lady standing next to them obstructing the guy’s face.

Alex had waited for her to move, and when she did, it confirmed his suspicions. There he was, at all his glory and inconvenience, Mister Harry Styles. Alex suddenly felt a little queasy.

“It’s just Harry, it’ll be fine.” Jamie patted Alex’s back, a chuckle cutting through his throat. 

Just Harry? Jamie would be out of his mind if he wasn’t being sarcastic. Men attracted Alex, so he recognised when a man was better looking than himself, and Styles was hot! And not a normal kind of hot, but a surreal kind of hot. He’d passed the point of hot and reached the scorching point that was only reserved for non-mortals. And Alex knew deep down that Miles wasn’t blind to his hotness just as much as Alex wasn’t. Also, to make matters worse, Styles was all nice and dear, spreading love and peace everywhere he fucking went.

Alex sighed, remembering clearly as the days of summer, when Miles had first met him. He’d come to Alex’s house praising how beautiful the lad was and how nice and lovable he’d acted. ‘He’s exactly what you’d expect him to be, Al. Polite, kind, ravishing.’ Miles had told him. A fond chuckle had followed the sentence, coming directly from Miles’ throat and breaking a portion of Alex’s heart. Alex couldn’t even remember Miles referring to him as ravishing, ever. That was an adjective apparently reserved for Harry Styles.

It’d been years ago, but Alex would never forget. That’d forever haunt him. And now he had a situation, a dire one, presenting itself right under his nose. He couldn’t tear his eyes from those two, even though he’d tried - that was a lie, he hadn’t even tried. As if he’d ever look away from any man near his Miles.

Miles was laughing at everything Styles was telling him, and Alex wondered what they had so much in common to talk about. It couldn’t be music, not possible. Their tastes were different, Styles wrote pop music, and Miles was all rock ‘n’ roll. It must be about clothes. That was what they had in common. That probably explained why Miles’ hand was on Styles’ jacket. It could only be to feel the fabric, right? That most probably would explain why Styles had his hand on Miles’ jacket as well. That didn’t explain, though, the giggles and the flirty eyes Alex was most certain both men sported. Fuck!

Alex had stayed away for a while, waiting for the conversation to die out, but there wasn’t any sign of it. What if he was asking him out for a pint or something like that? Would Miles say no? Or maybe he’d say yes out of politeness because no one could ever say no to Harry Freaking Styles?

Harry Styles had that sweet smile on his face, and those beautiful green eyes, and the perfect tattooed body, and those cheek dimples, and the motto ‘Treat People With Kindness’, but Alex knew it was all bullshit. Styles only faked that. It wasn’t possible for someone to be that good looking and that kind at the same time. It just wasn’t! There must be something wrong about him. Alex bet he was secretly a jerk, surfing the reputation he’d accidentally built for himself, alluring gullible people like Miles who didn’t see through him. But Alex did see through him, and everything told him that Styles looked like a home-wrecker.

Before he knew what he was doing, Alex was up and walking up to them. He automatically buttoned the upper button of his jacket, and unbuttoned one more button of his shirt for good measure, preening himself: If he was going to war, he’d use all his tricks.

He could hear the cheers from his band members behind him, but ignored them all. He’d deal with those idiots later, after he shooed Styles away from his Miles.

Upon reaching them, his hand was quick to grip Miles’ shoulder, making the man look up at him, surprised to say the least, and confused at best. Yeah, maybe a little annoyed.

“Hey babeh.” Alex drawled as if it was customary to call Miles that in front of an audience. His grip was firm and territorial, and he hoped it conveyed how uncomfortable his conversation with the other man was making him feel. Miles raised an eyebrow at him, disapprovingly, and Alex made a face that was supposed to ask him ‘Have I interrupted summat?’. 

Alex turned to ‘greet’ Styles, as apparently it was going to be impossible to pretend he wasn’t there monopolizing the conversation with his boyfriend, keeping him from interacting with other (non-single) people. “Styles.” Alex paused and stuck out his palm for a handshake, which naturally Styles took. Alex crushed his hand on his own as firmly as he could, but Styles didn’t even flinch. He just took his other hand to his hair, nonchalantly fixing his curls into place and Alex bit his tongue so as not to say Pff, Please! I have curls too you know! And they are better than yours whenever I wash all the hair product off. Fuck, that reminded him how much Miles loved Alex’s curls.

“Turner.” His face didn’t falter, that freaking perfect smile of his and plump lips didn’t go anywhere. “Actually, I’m glad you’re here!” He said…excited? “It’d mean the world to my husband if you met him.”

“Husband?” Alex wasn’t only stunned by that, but also now feeling like a proper git.

“Yes, my husband is a huge Arctic Monkeys fan. He went to the loo a while ago, but he spends a lot of time fixing his hair.” He chuckled wholeheartedly, with a glistening in his eyes that could only be perceived as love. “Hopefully you can wait a little.” Harry’s eyes were pleading and one of Alex’s theories was confirmed: One can not say no to him. Apart from that, he wanted to make sure he had a husband and wasn’t just fooling him.

“Absolutely.” His grip on Miles eased up, and instead of gripping, he now caressed his shoulder gingerly, having a feel of his fairly soft jacket.

“He’s finally back.” Harry’s eyes got greener and with the presence of the said husband, he looked downright elated. “Lou! Look who’s here!”

The husband had his hair perfected in a quiff and was wearing a grey suit and a tie - Alex seemed to be the only one defying dress code around here. The man wasn't in any way as rambunctious as Harry. He had ocean blue eyes that almost shut when he smiled. He was rather cute, and a suitable match for Harry. Alex couldn’t help but feel the wave of relief relaxing his tensed muscles. He smiled back at the man and showed him his hand, but Lou went for a hug instead. Friendly and warm. “That’s sick!” He said during their short-lived greeting.

Harry promptly stood to stand next to his husband, bringing him close to him with an arm around his shoulders. Harry was taller and Lou stood on his tiptoes to kiss him, full on the lips. Alex looked at them wide-eyed and let himself dream of doing the same to Miles one day, maybe even on his tiptoes since he was the shorter one. He looked at Miles fondly but found a forlorn look in his eyes.

“Alex Turner, I can’t believe it. You know I’m so inspired by your lyrics, you’re a phenomenal lyricist.” Lou said, moving his legs, restless in excitement. “Bet you hear that a lot!”

Alex hated when that happened. Not the being complimented part of it, but not being able to return the compliment right the way. He’d heard nothing from him, however, the man looked oddly familiar. “You do look familiar, mate. I’m trying hard to place you.”

Lou chuckled. “I know it’s not your style, but I was in this band called One Direction, that’s most probably how I’m familiar to you. I’m Louis Tomlinson.” Fuck, of course. So that made Harry his band mate. He remembered seeing Louis before, always with a girl in his arms. However, Alex knew that it didn’t mean much, since he’d firsthand experience on that matter. And now Harry and Louis were a couple, a married couple. Shit, now that comment Alex had made on that interview turned against him: the comment that compared the milex fanfictions with One Direction fanfictions. Looking in retrospect, he shouldn’t have ever mentioned that.

“Oh God, sorry. It’s just that you were babies ‘till last week, I suppose.” He shook his head and took another glance at Miles. His man still looked miffed.

“I wish! I’m thirty now, man. And I hate getting older.” He looked at Harry at the remark, Harry sniggered. “We should cancel all the birthdays.”

“Tell me ‘bout it.” Miles finally spoke, being the one who hated growing older even more than Alex did himself. Miles stood and bashfully wrapped his arm around Alex’s waist.

Alex didn’t protest or shake him off. “How long have you been together for?” Alex directed the question to either Harry or Louis.

“Since the beginning.” Louis quickly replied. “Twelve years and going strong.” Louis made a fist and tapped twice over his heart, to which Harry ‘replied’ with a thumbs up and a smile capable of melting rocks. They seemed to have an unspoken language, just like Alex and Miles had. “But we came out recently, months ago actually. You know, we had contracts that forbid us to be ourselves, it sucked. I couldn’t wait to be out with the love of my life, do you know what I mean?”

Yes, Alex knew what it meant, partially. He had the love of his life right here by his side, and he loved him more than he could ever explain. But he wasn’t dying to come out and face the scrutiny of the public and the media.

Alex’s heart twinged when Miles’ arm dropped from his waist.

“Was it hard?” Alex asked. He was honestly interested in the answer. It wasn’t like he’d never thought about it.

Louis shrugged. “What isn’t hard Alex? Genuinely, I felt like I was suspended mid-air before, as if we weren’t living a full life, you know what I mean? This life is so much better, we’re true to ourselves and that makes things easier, however hard they actually are.”

However hard they actually are.

Harry just looked at him, heart eyes on his husband as if not one day had passed since they got together for the first time. He seemed to be the quieter one, whilst Louis was the talkative. Louis was the Miles to Harry’s Alex, Alex concluded. He wished Alex was the Harry to Miles’ Louis, since Harry didn’t seem to wonder how it would have been if he kept himself in the closet, he didn’t seem to regret it or doubt his decision. Miles deserved a Harry. “Right!” Alex replied, his head dropping to his shoes, and then to Miles’ shoes. He’d hardly ever seen Miles so quiet, and that was never a good sign.

“You should come for tea at our house, we’d be so happy to have you both there.” Harry offered. “Or maybe to our dinner parties.” He said looking at Louis.

“Harry cooks! He’s an amazing cook, for real. You should definitely come for dinner.” Louis was proud of Harry and it showed. Alex wanted to say that Miles was an excellent cook, but he refrained over the risk of sounding too domestic.

Harry smiled softly and turned to Miles. “I’ll text you the address Miles, and you two can join us any day next week, how does that sound?”

Of course, Harry Styles had his Miles’ phone number. However, in face of the latest news, Alex didn’t mind. They could be friends now, they could meet and bond over dinner. Alex and Miles would be able to be themselves around them, because they seemed to know about them. Either Miles had told them their status (what Alex doubted) or they’d figured out by their body language (more likely, taking in consideration that they had experience in being closeted). Miles deserved those types of interactions, with double dates with other gay couples.

“It sounds great, actually! We’d love to.” Alex replied them, looking at Miles for his approval and finding a smile on his face, the type that told Alex he was agreeably surprised. Alex couldn’t help but to brush his hand on Miles’ hand. A featherlike touch, barely there. Only powerful enough to warm his heart.

“Deal! We see you then!” Harry shook Alex’s hand one more time, turning to Miles and doing the same. Louis happily shook their hands and before turning to their table, he said. “I love the puppets too, just so you know.” He winked at them and went back to his husband and to their convivial table.

Miles sat back on his chair, and Alex was quick to take a seat next to Miles, on a vacant place from someone at his table. 

“So…” Miles whispered. “I presume you were jealous.” His face was half amused and half peeved.

“Am I that obvious?” Alex whispered back. 

Since nobody there was paying them any attention, Alex got closer to Miles.

“Yes, Alex, you are.” He sighed. “You know there’s a simple solution for that, marry me. Have you looked at them? They look so happy! They are what, a thousand times more popular than us.” A thousand times was clearly an overkill, so at that Alex had shown Miles a grimace. “You know what I mean Alex. Who cares if we’re gay?” He asked, voice below a whisper.

Well, all the women who fantasise about Alex and Miles…but Alex got the gist.

“Next year, come as my plus one.” Alex slowly stroked Miles’ pinky finger, his face was down not daring to look at his eyes.

“I don’t need to be a plus one, I get my own invitation Alex, thank you very much!” He sounded offended.

“Babe, that’s not what I meant. I meant for you to be my date. We’d come together as a couple.” Alex might never do that, but he'd promised anyhow, to make Miles happy, even if it’d last just a few hours.

“Are you serious?” Miles’ voice was so soft and rough, it sent a shiver down Alex’s spine. After so many years, after being through so much, Miles still had that effect on him.

Alex nodded and dared to look at him now, and Miles’ grin was brighter than the sun itself. He’d have to hold up his end of the deal now, and that was down to his jealousy, and to how much he’d miss Miles once he was back to his table with the Monkeys. And down to Harry Styles and to the sappy album he’d written years ago, presumably to his husband, that he wouldn’t ever admit it was good and made him cry when he’d reached the last song - because it reminded him so much of his relationship with Miles - and now he knew why.

“Do you think the other Monkeys knew Harry was married?” Alex asked with eyes fixed on Miles’ eyes.

“Of course they knew, that’s all the media’s been talking about for months. The question is: how did you not know?” Miles chuckled and Alex turned to look at his table, seeing the exact moment when his bandmates realised Alex found them out.

“Fuckers!”

**Author's Note:**

> I've been a Milex shipper for a while but I'm still a baby Larry shipper, so forgive me if I'm not that good depicting Louis and Harry.


End file.
